April 28, 2024 • 53 mins
Embark on an enchanting journey across the sweeping steppes and into the heart of nomadic culture with our guest, Breanna Wilson. As a travel expert with an intimate connection to Mongolia, she weaves a rich tapestry of stories from her life among the nomads, the rush of traversing rugged terrains on a Ural motorcycle, and the embrace of Mongolian hospitality that's as vast as the landscape itself. Breanna's vivid narrative transcends the spoken word, delving into the powerful realm of non-verbal communication that binds the souls of travelers and locals alike.
Imagine a place where the traditions of the past blend seamlessly with modern innovation—solar panels perched atop gers and the warmth of a central stove making a cozy refuge from the Mongolian chill. Breanna not only shares the intricacies of a nomadic lifestyle but also invites us into a world where women gather in the serene province of Selang, connecting over shared experiences and the hearty, soul-nourishing flavors of Mongolian cuisine. The spirit of community and respect for the land and its people is palpable as she recounts the transformative retreats she hosts, bridging cultures and creating memories to last a lifetime.
For those with a wanderlust sparked and curiosity piqued, Breanna offers a treasure trove of practical advice for planning your own Mongolian escapade. From navigating the urban pulse of Ulaanbaatar with its burgeoning tech scene to embarking on cost-effective yet enriching travel itineraries, she paints a vivid picture of a land that's both ancient and ever-evolving. Safety tips for solo travelers, the latest on connectivity in the remotest corners, and a peek into cultural festivities and adventure sports—this episode is a compass that points to the endless possibilities awaiting in the majestic realm of Mongolia.
Map of Mongolia
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hi, welcome to our podcast.
We're Next Travel with Kristenand Carol.
I am Kristen and I am Carol,and we're two long-term friends
with a passion for travel andadventure.
Each episode, we interviewpeople around the globe to help
us decide where to go next.
So today we have Brianna Wilson, an American who has spent a
(00:37):
lot of time in Mongolia and willtell us all about it.
Thank you for joining us today.
Yeah, thank you for having me,and so you're in Mongolia right
now.
Breanna (00:46):
I am in Ulaanbaatar right now, so I'm in the capital
.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
And so what brought you to Mongolia?
What do you do?
I see here it says Mongoliatravel expert, that you're
specific to Mongolia.
How long have you been there?
Breanna (01:00):
I have been coming here since 2018.
I have been coming here since2018, and I came just like every
other tourist.
I came to do a horseback tripup to the Tatton tribe, which is
the tribe that rides reindeer.
As soon as I got here, I kindof realized Mongolia was a
totally different beast andplace, and I made an excuse to
(01:21):
come back the next year in 2019and ride a motorcycle, a Ural.
It's a motorcycle with asidecar.
I did that with another friendand we drove halfway across the
country and just went outmeeting nomadic families and had
just this insane experience.
And then I've basically beencoming back every summer ever
since, and now I'm here inwinter.
(01:42):
So this is a whole differentadventure for me as well,
because, yeah, the average islike negative 30 degrees Celsius
.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
So very cold.
I figured it was very cold.
Breanna (01:52):
Yeah, it's cold but it's.
I just came back from thecountryside, I did a trip up
north and it's just so beautifulbecause everything's in this
blanket of white and it's justvery quiet.
And it is much more difficultto travel in winter, obviously,
because we don't really have alot of paved roads once you kind
of go off the main highways.
So you have to be verycomfortable in a good four by
(02:14):
four to get anywhere in thewinter and so you're staying
there right now, like you'reliving there yeah, so I'm in my
apartment right now.
um, I live in ulumbatar and,yeah, I have a car here.
So I try to go out to thecountryside as much as possible
and I take tourists out as well.
So I organize sort ofexperiences with locals and we
go visit nomadic families and wedo all the stuff that I fell in
(02:37):
love with here.
So I just try to share that andgive people that same
experience.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Wow, and what's the elevation there?
It's so cold, is it in themountains?
It looks like it was.
Breanna (02:47):
Yeah, we're about 4,500 feet, maybe a little bit less,
above sea level.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
So some snow, but not a lot of snow.
So it kind of looked it's likeyou're like Northern Montana,
canada, almost Exactly, exactly.
Okay, when did you move there?
It sounds like you're there nowlike full time.
Breanna (03:06):
Yeah, so when I came back in 2019, I rented an
apartment with the same friendthat we did the motorcycle trip
with.
It was like three months, fourmonths.
We basically stayed for thesummer, because the summer is
when the weather is the mostagreeable, it's when all the
tourists come, it's when thecity and the countryside is just
stunning and everything'slively.
There's so much going on.
(03:26):
So I came back in 2019 andstarted living here part-time
and then in 2020, we were goingto launch the motorcycle
adventure that we did as a tripwith guests, but then obviously,
the pandemic happened and thatdidn't come to fruition.
So I didn't make it back in2020, but I made it back in 2021
(03:47):
.
It was still a weird time fortourists.
So I just kind of came back andmoved into this apartment that
I'm in now and just got settledinto life here and, yeah, spent
that summer here, and then thelast summer was sort of the
first real tourist season thatwe had back in the country.
So last year I had a lot ofguests and tours and I'm also a
journalist, so I do a lot oftravel writing.
(04:09):
I've been doing a lot of pieceson Mongolia lately, just because
now that's kind of what I'vebecome synonymous with and you
know I am able to speak on adeeper level about the culture
and what's happening here versus, you know, most travel writers.
This is how it works you go onan assignment for a week or two
in a country and you have towrite an article and you're an
expert and that's great andthat's fantastic and people
(04:30):
write amazing pieces about theirexperiences.
But, yeah, I'm able to offer alittle bit different insight and
I travel around solo a lotwithin the country.
I drive my own car, I gocamping and wild and, yeah,
overlanding and driving off road, so it gives me a different
perspective.
I go a bit deeper than you knowsome other people can go.
So, yeah, that's what I try toshare with the world as well.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
That's pretty bold.
So where were you from?
In the United States?
Breanna (04:56):
I grew up in Pittsburgh .
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Oh, okay, pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I'm assuming,
because that's Pittsburgh righthere in California.
Oh, that's right.
Yeah, there is that Pittsburgh?
Breanna (05:04):
Yeah, the one on the East Coast.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Language-wise.
How is that in terms of beingover there?
Breanna (05:11):
It's interesting.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Is it Chinese or is it something that?
Breanna (05:15):
No, they speak Mongolian, so the local language
is Mongolian.
It's not like you're in aEuropean city where everybody
else speaks English.
It's quite the opposite.
So I'm working very, very, veryhard to learn Mongolian, but it
is a very hard language.
So I know enough to get by andI'm dedicating a lot of time to
(05:36):
it.
But, yeah, you kind of need toknow the basics just to get by
here.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
So what are some of the basics?
What does it sound like?
Breanna (05:43):
So basically, when you walk into a family care, you say
, and they say, like that's justyour formal greeting for
everybody you know everywhereevery time, and then you can ask
their name and yeah, then youjust kind of get the
conversation going from there.
So my, my language skills arekind of like a child.
I'm good with the kids, butwhen it comes to like deeper
(06:05):
conversations with the adults, Ikind of stumble a little bit.
But the beautiful thing aboutthis country is that body
language and smiling and justlike you just sort of learn how
to communicate without reallycommunicating.
I don't know how to explain it,but it just works very nicely
here.
Yeah, I mean, we just kind ofyou kind of look at each other
and you look at the horse or youlook at the gear or the tee and
(06:28):
you're like, oh, yeah, and evenif you're speaking English and
they're speaking Mongolian, yousomehow understand each other.
It's very interesting.
So, yeah, that's how I get by.
A lot is I'm like, okay, here'smy basic skills.
And then I'm like, okay,nevermind, like let me just
point or laugh or like you know,pick it up in there.
Yeah, they kind of just do thesame with you and you get by.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
So do you have a guide or someone to help you the
first time you went?
Breanna (06:51):
Yeah, so most of the time when I travel I have a
translator or a guide.
It kind of, you know, makesthat process a bit smoother,
because there are a lot oflittle details about things here
, like when you walk into a yurtwe call them gears here.
When you walk into a gear, like, you're supposed to go to the
left and guests sit in anotherparticular spot and the family
(07:13):
sits in another spot, and whenyou grab a bowl of tea from your
host, you always grab with yourright hand or two hands.
You don't point your feetdirectly at the host.
So there's a lot of littlethings.
There's a lot of little thingsthat of course, you know.
When they see that you're aforeigner, they don't really
scold you or anything, but it'sgood to know these basic little
things.
So there's not a lot ofinformation out there.
(07:34):
So most people come having noidea what to expect, which is
amazing because that's, I think,the way that Mongolia is best
experienced.
But yeah if they're going to doit on their own, I want to have
them at least a little bitprepared, or at least give
people some information.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
And so what are the feet pointing directly at the
person?
Why is that a bad thing?
What does that mean?
Breanna (07:52):
It's just very rude and you never show the soles of
your feet to a host.
It just is, yeah, super rude.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
You don't plop your feet up on the couch.
Breanna (08:03):
Nope, nope, nope, none of that, none of that, yeah.
So I'm always like veryconscious of how I'm sitting and
like at some point you just getrelaxed and you go back at your
old habits, and then you'relike oh my gosh.
Oh, I'm so sorry.
Like it's all right, I'm likeit's okay.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Who cares here?
What keeps you in Mongolia?
So that keeps you in Mongolia,like why, why there and why live
there full time and not backhere in the U?
S?
Breanna (08:27):
it's those same things I just explained.
I mean, the nomadic lifestyleis just endlessly fascinating to
me.
The fact that they arebasically self-sufficient and
sustainable and they move theirfamily, you know, three to four
times a year they follow theiranimals around the countryside.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
They okay family three to four times a year.
They follow their animalsaround the countryside.
Okay, so some of our listenersmight think nomad.
We think like digital nomad.
You're talking about old schoolnomad, where you're moving
based on where the food is,where the water is, that kind of
thing.
Yep, yep.
So these are the indigenouspeople.
Breanna (09:01):
Yes, these are the Mongolians who have been living
this way for thousands andthousands and thousands of years
.
I mean, they still live in thefelt tents that you know they
did back in the days ofChinggatan.
Do they have electricity?
A lot of them now have solarpanels, so they do have lights,
or they have a car battery thatthey will hook up light to, so
they have lights within the gareand they use the solar to, like
(09:23):
, charge their phones, becausenow they all have cell phones.
So there is electricity.
There's no running water, sousually there's a big like blue
plastic bucket that they getwater from, either a well or the
stream or a spring that'snearby, and then how do they
manage that when it's minus 30degrees Just?
Speaker 1 (09:41):
have to be a running stream that doesn't freeze up, I
guess 30 degrees.
Breanna (09:44):
Does it have to be a running stream that doesn't
freeze up?
I guess yeah, most of therivers and streams will freeze.
So they have an ice pick andthey just have one spot that
they normally use and thenthey'll use the ice pick, or if
they're, it depends on wherethey are.
Sometimes there is like aspring or something that is
constantly running.
So if that's the case, that'swhat they use, but they figure
it out, they get by.
Most of them go now to the samesort of areas each season.
(10:06):
So one of the families I justvisited last week they have like
actually a little log cabin,but we went with him to get
water.
Basically, you walk 500 metersand then there's one spot it
looks like a hiking stick butit's very thick, and then on the
end is this huge metal chiselalmost, and then he digs a new
hole.
Every time he needs water,which is usually every day or
(10:28):
every other day, they go and getwater and yeah, and then he
uses that pick, digs a new hole,gets the water to come up, and
then he sits, fills up hisbucket, takes them back.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
When you're visiting the nomadic, the people, then
you're not in the cityUlaanbaatar, right, because
that's more modern it looks likeright, yeah, okay, got it.
Breanna (10:47):
But how do they get heat?
So there's a stove in thecenter of the gare.
So when you look at a gare, thetop is this like almost sort of
open oculus.
They used to use it to telltime, um, but wow.
But now they stick the chimneypipe up through that and then
you know, basically, know,basically, when you're driving
through the countryside you seeif someone's home, because you
(11:08):
see if there's smoke coming outof their chimney.
So there's a.
It depends on where they live,but it's either wood fired or
it's fired by dry dung orwhatever they have.
They burn in it and that's howthey eat Wow.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
It's like going back in time.
Huh, I'm looking at thepictures.
There's like desert and thenthere's green right.
Breanna (11:28):
Yeah, we have a bit of everything.
So in the south we have theGobi Desert, which is insanely
harsh and you know endless sandand dry, flat landscape, and
then in the north we have thesereally crazy mountains.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
And in the west we also have, yeah, have, yeah, the
alta mountains and beautifuljust like very tall mountains
down to the very green lushvalleys.
And what was the desert called?
Is it sound like a familiarname, goby desert?
Okay, and it's got camels there.
Breanna (11:56):
It looks like yep, so we have back drain camels, which
are the two humped camels,uh-huh.
And yeah, I spend a lot of timewith some camel herding
families.
That's one of the experiencesthat I offer is they go live
with one of the families that Iwork with a lot and, yeah, we
learn how to like saddle a cameland then we go on rides in the
dunes, take the camels to getwater.
Yeah, learn about what they eatdude, is this like?
Speaker 1 (12:18):
do you just change lives and people how they
perceive life after they gothere for the first time?
I mean, obviously did for you.
Breanna (12:25):
Yeah, it reminds me of my first time.
Every time I see someone likego like this isn't a tourist
trap, this isn't just for show,like this is actually how they
live every day, it makes me veryhappy to show people that
people still survive this way,they're happy.
I mean, mongolian deal with alot, and yet they smile at you,
(12:45):
they're happy.
They just, you know, get onwith life.
There's no complaining, there'sno like quitting, giving up.
It's like they just go on.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Or any of them work or their work is just surviving
every day.
Breanna (12:59):
It depends on the family and it depends on where
they are.
I mean, there are little townsall across the country, so some
people will work in the zoo, thecamel herding family, the mom
that we go to she's a teacher,so in the winter she teaches at
the local school.
I mean there's still jobs intown, so a lot of them will
either pump gas or work at thelittle store or one of the
(13:19):
restaurants.
But yeah, some families,they're strictly herding
families and that's it.
It just depends on where theyare, the situation and how big
the family is Like.
Yeah, if the kids can take careof the animals, I can go work,
or vice versa.
So yeah, it depends.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Do they have high rises or buildings or anything?
Because I'm just looking atyour Instagram, I'm not looking
at Mongolia in general.
Breanna (13:40):
Yeah, so Ulaanbaatar, where I live, is a fairly modern
city.
It's still a small city by alot of standards.
It's not like going to Seoul orTokyo or anything that you
would kind of expect in Asia.
Mongolia is a post-Sovietcountry, so we still have that
(14:03):
architecture when you look atour opera house and the drama
theater.
So it's still very present inthat sense when you look at the
architecture.
But, yeah, we have a lot of newbuildings going up.
A lot of people are moving tothe city just because, yeah,
life as a nomad is very hard andwe had a really tough winter
this year and some people lostall of their animals, which is
kind of what happened back inthe 90s when Mongolia became an
independent country.
They also had a really bad Zud,which is this really tough
(14:26):
winter that I'm talking about,and a lot of families lost their
herds.
So they just said, okay, let'sjust move to the city.
So the city really increased inpopulation in the 90s because
of that.
So, yeah, so a lot of people domove to the city just to try to
find a different life, havedifferent experiences, or maybe
they're getting older and theyjust, you know, want a little
easier life, and so the city isexpanding.
(14:47):
We have a lot of high rises, youknow, going up, a lot of
building going on.
The biggest complaint in thecity is usually the traffic,
because the city was not builtfor this many people and the
roads are very skinny, butsomehow we make it work.
Can you just like I said,mongolians just kind of get on
with life, but you know, youfigure said Mongolians just kind
of get on with life, but youknow, you figured out, people
still walk the streets here,even at negative 30, negative 35
(15:09):
.
And they're still walking towork or bicycling to work or
however they have to get there.
They get there and yeah, I justreally appreciate how they just
get on with it.
There's no like crying in thecorner, there's no like taking a
day off, it's just.
It is what it is and let's moveon with it.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
So what's a typical day look like in Mongolia?
Breanna (15:30):
For me every day is different.
But I mean, in this city I havea very like normal city life.
You know, I'll go get a coffeein the morning at the local
coffee shop.
I'll, you know, meet friendsfor lunch or brunch.
No-transcript.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
So when does that transition, when does like
summer kick in?
Breanna (16:16):
So usually about April it starts to become spring and
then by May it starts to becomelike everybody can be outside.
Some days you have really warm,like spring summer days, and
then it goes back to likesnowing.
So, it's kind of like you knowthat in-between period, but by
June everything is green andnice.
And yeah, june is usually aboutwhen it starts.
(16:37):
That's usually the first ofsummer.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Sounds very like Minnesota, almost the climate,
it's very cold and then everyonejust goes crazy in the summer
like we could be outside yeahexactly Everyone's wearing
shorts and I'm still like in acashmere jacket at night like
I'm freezing.
So what do you do for work then?
Is your travel, writing andtours your full-time work these
(17:02):
days?
Breanna (17:02):
Yeah, so in the winter I mostly work on my travel
writing.
I'm a freelance travel writer.
I, you know I write forpublications all around the
world and so in the winter I doa lot more writing, I do a lot
more of that sort of journalist,you know, sort of hat, if
that's how you'd like to say it.
Because yeah, the tours hereonly really we kick off the
(17:25):
first tour at the end of May andthen I'll run tours through the
first of October, but then Ihave the rest of that time sort
of to myself.
So between October and usuallyabout the end of April,
beginning of May, I don't haveany tours at the moment.
But that's actually why I cameback is to sort of scout some
winter experiences for next year, so that I can extend the
(17:46):
season.
And you know it's tough to runa business when you can only do
it for six months at a time andyou know, only hire guides and
teams for those months.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Well you do have, if you want to talk about your
women's retreat coming up in.
Breanna (17:58):
August, yeah, so this year is the first year I'm
launching a women's retreat andthen we will basically go up to
this province called Selang andwe will stay in one place and I
will curate a bunch ofexperiences basically the same
thing we would experience if wewent to any other part of the
countryside.
We'll meet nomadic families.
We'll spend time with them.
We'll have Mongolian cuisinefor dinner.
(18:19):
Families We'll spend time withthem.
We'll have Mongolian cuisinefor dinner.
We'll spend our afternoonseither hiking or kayaking and
just experiencing the beautifulcountryside, because that area
is really green and we'll beright on a river.
So it's just a beautiful sortof place.
It's actually one of myfavorite places to go by myself,
and just sort of disconnect.
So the province is called Tuleng.
It's north of Ulaanbaatar, sowe'll take the train from
(18:43):
Ulaanbaatar and we'll take it upto Tulang.
That's part of the experience.
The train is an experience initself.
It's a very local sort of thing.
So we'll do that.
That's how we'll get up thereand then, yeah, everybody stays
in a yurt and we just kind oflive like nomads for the week
and I bring some special friendsup to help us sort of get you
(19:06):
know all of the experiences thatI think are important for
people to have here.
You know, learn about differentthings like the calligraphy and
you know, do differentexperiences around the local
culture here and yeah, and thenjust meet a group of really cool
women.
I mean, people who come toMongolia are amazing.
They definitely are differentsort of travelers.
It's not easy to travel here.
(19:27):
There aren't always roads toplaces.
We don't always have beautifulrest stops to go to the bathroom
in, so it attracts a personwith a very open and adventurous
spirit.
So I'm hoping that this I knowthat this group will be exactly
that, and so it's a really coolchance to get to meet other
travelers that are verylike-minded and similar, but to
(19:48):
also get a real sense forMongolia and what's going on
here, and but also spend timedisconnecting and just sort of
being in the landscape andsurrounded by good vibes.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
And how do?
Where do you fly into?
Breanna (19:59):
You will fly into Ulaanbaatar.
This is the only realinternational airport, so
everybody flies through here.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
So coming from the US .
How would you get there?
Do you have to like fly throughTokyo or Singapore?
Breanna (20:13):
You can fly through either Seoul.
So if you're coming from theWest Coast, flying Korean air
through Seoul is usually theroute I recommend.
If you're coming from the EastCoast, it would be the Turkish
Airlines and Istanbul.
You could also fly throughFrankfurt or Tokyo, but Istanbul
and Seoul are usually thelayover cities I recommend.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Okay.
Is that going from both sidesof the world around, or is it
just both going?
Breanna (20:41):
yeah, both sides around .
So if you go, if you would flythrough korea on the way here
and fly through istanbul on theway home, you would technically
go around the world exactly well, there's that, yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
yeah, that's kind of neat, neat.
What does?
When you say Mongolian cuisine,what does that look like?
I think Mongolian beef that'sthe only thing, right, yes.
Breanna (21:07):
Well, the funny thing about that, and like Mongolian
barbecue, is that is notMongolian.
It was actually created by aguy in Taiwan who wanted this
very exotic dish in one of hisrestaurants.
So most people come and theysay that and I'm like actually
in reality, the diet here isvery meat and dairy heavy.
(21:29):
I do have conversations witheveryone that comes with me on
my trip just about their dietaryrestrictions and things that
they should know, because, yeah,the diet here is really meat
and dairy heavy.
It's what the nomadic familieshave, it's their resources, it's
how they live, and part of theexperience is that I want people
to eat with them and I want usto eat together and that's how
(21:49):
you bond and we cook together.
I usually have one of the momsshow us how to make the local
dishes.
Like boots are basically ourmeat dumplings, so anyone who's
familiar with like xiaolongbao,it's basically similar to that.
And then we have a noodle dishcalled suvin.
Husher is another very populardish.
It's kind of like an empanada.
(22:10):
It's basically, you know,flattened meat in a fried pastry
.
Those are like the big threethat most tourists become
familiar with.
And then, yeah, as I mentioned,every time you walk into a gear
you're offered milk tea andit's like a salty milk tea.
Yeah, so that's like that to meis like the most comforting
thing.
So, as soon as you walk intoany gear, that's the first thing
(22:31):
you get offered, and even ifyou don't drink dairy or you
know, maybe you don't reallywant to drink it, you always
have to accept it and you canjust sit with it in your hand.
You don't even really need todrink it, but you always accept
it.
Just if the host is offeringyou something I mean, that's
their resource that camestraight from the cow or the
goat that are directly outsideof the yurt.
Oh wow, that is like as freshas it gets.
(22:53):
You always accept it and youknow you show your gratitude and
that, like I said, that goes along way here, as long as you
just show your gratitude andyou're thankful for the
experience.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
you know you don't really need communication to get
by, but yeah, so do you thinkthe nomadic people like
appreciate that people arecoming to learn?
Maybe it helps support them alittle bit?
Or they're like, ah, keep thesetourists out of here.
No, they appreciate it.
Breanna (23:16):
I mean, like I said, as long as the tourist is
respectful and, you know,appreciates things and they're
not just showing up to kind ofMongolian hospitality is famous
because they are so warm andthey are so welcoming.
I mean I've been in situationswhere I've been driving and you
know it's getting later in theday and I'm asking for
directions and they say, oh,come in and have tea.
(23:37):
And then before you know itthey're like just sleep here,
like it's okay.
You can just stay here with usand you know, the next morning
when you go to leave, you'relike you have to have that
conversation.
That's usually awkward andyou're like, okay, well, how
much do I owe you?
And usually they're just likeit's okay, like don't worry
about it.
That's not really the precedentthey want to set.
I don't want people just cominghere thinking like you can just
(23:59):
stay with any family and notpay them and that's fine.
It's nice when it happens, yeah, sure, but that's still like
they've opened their home andthey're so kind to you.
So maybe, if I don't pay themin money, I leave them like
flour or oil or whatever solarlights I'm not maybe using at
that time.
So I try to leave other stuffand pay them in other ways of
(24:19):
not maybe using at that time.
So I try to leave other stuffand pay them in other ways.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Oh wow, that is hospitality.
Is it safe?
Yeah, the hospitality is okay,and the food, and like, did you
get, like you know, tummy aches?
Or you know, like, is theremonozuma-ish kind of issues, or
how is that experience?
Breanna (24:36):
Yeah, the diet can affect your stomach, just
because sometimes it's reallyeither greasy or oily.
That's usually what affects meafter a few days of eating it.
And yeah, because it is a lotof meat and it depends on the
season, and I do try to bringvegetables in my car, but then I
can be like, oh, can we makelike a you know coleslaw salad
(24:56):
or you know something on theside, because yeah, it is just
meat and fried bread, so thatcan kind of wear on you if
you're not used to it.
Like I don't eat meat like thatevery day.
So when I go to the countryside, you know to live like that for
five, six, seven days, yourstomach kind of goes like no, no
, no, where's that like oatmealthat we normally eat in the
morning?
Or where's that steak saladthat we're used to eating?
(25:18):
so it does sort of, you know itcan wear on people.
Um, I try to bring, you know,snacks and supplements, and you
know, some nights we'll just say, okay, tonight we're gonna make
pasta or tonight we'll make.
Sometimes you just wantsomething comforting, like mac
and cheese, um, so I try tobring just like little things so
we can break it up.
You know lots of ramen andother things like fresh eggs and
(25:41):
, like I said, vegetables, ifmaybe that's just what people
want that day.
It's very simple.
It's not, you know, overlyspiced, it's not overly
complicated.
It's basically kind of boiledor fried meat and then you just
kind of pick at it with yourhands and everybody eats
together out of one big, usuallylike tray.
Usually all the meat is dumpedon the tray if they're making
(26:02):
like a big meal for everybody.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
And what kind of vegetables Do they do?
Vegetables with their meal,like we do?
Or it sounds like if it's thereand grown, great.
If not, and if they're a nomad,no, yeah, so.
Breanna (26:14):
I mean sometimes they have like the jars of you know
pickled vegetables, which isalways nice.
Potatoes are pretty common,carrots, onions that's usually
what you find in a in a nomadichome, if they have you know
vegetables that they picked upeither from the zoom or if
someone brought them for them.
But as far as like lettuce goes, it's not something you would
find usually in a nomadic home.
(26:35):
Not really any fruits either.
So yeah, I usually bring fruitwe import.
So when you're in the city youcan find all of this stuff.
I mean I go to the store and Ibuy bananas and oranges and
apples and, you know, lettuceand everything I would buy back
in the states I'd buy here inthe capital.
That's not an issue at all.
(26:56):
But yeah, once you get to thecountryside the selection of
fruits in the local stores isusually not as fresh because
it's not supplied as often.
But yeah, sometimes it's okay.
It just depends on where youare.
But yeah, you won't really findfruit in a nomadic family's
home.
It's not what they prefer toeat.
Like I said, they're veryself-sufficient.
In the summer they eat a lot ofthe dairy, so they'll make
(27:17):
dried curds and cheeses and thenjust kind of live off of that,
and then in the winter they eatmore meat.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
What's their health like and what do they tend to
live until?
Typically, what's theirlifespan?
Breanna (27:31):
Well, you'll always notice when you go to the
countryside that the nomadicfamilies have the best teeth.
So they always have verystraight, straight, very white
teeth because they eat reallyhard meat and really hard
cheeses.
Just growing up from a youngage, so their teeth are amazing.
I'm always like, oh my gosh,like let's trade.
Um, as they get older, thereare some issues with like
(27:53):
cholesterol and stuff like that.
I'm not sure what the lifespanis, but I've.
I've been in the countrysideand grand grands like 80, 90 and
still getting water, cookingfood, telling everybody what to
do.
So, yeah, I mean it is amazingwhen you run into the older
generations and start to havechats with them about how life
has changed and what they'veseen.
(28:14):
And yeah, I really like whenthat happens, it's one of my
favorite experiences.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
I just Googled it and it says 72.14 years.
Oh, I wonder about the US.
Let's check the United Statesactually.
Breanna (28:28):
Oh yeah, that would be interesting to know.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
United States, 77.28 years oh okay, a little longer.
I'm like what's the best one?
Okay, so what's the cost ofliving where you are?
Breanna (28:50):
So the cost of living is definitely less than in the
States and probably even lessthan in some European cities,
but I don't think that Mongoliais as cheap as people always
assume.
Like the coffee would be like$2, $2.50.
You can get lunch for less than$10, dinner for probably about
$20.
Okay, so it's not like Thailand.
(29:15):
It's not like Thailand.
It's not yeah, it's not a placethat people come just because
it's cheap.
That's definitely not the case.
I mean, we import a lot ofthings and, you know, getting a
drink is still like $10.
It's not like yeah, it's not aplace that you come just because
it's cheap.
I think people come herethinking that it is and then
they go oh, it's not really ascheap as we thought.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
So you talked about typical meals, and is that?
Breanna (29:51):
just for the nomadic family?
What about, like, if someonewere to go to the cities?
Or is it the same type of foodswe have, you know, spanish
restaurants, japanese, koreanfood.
Korean food's really big herein Hot Pot.
That's really big in the city.
It's like any other city.
We have a ton of restaurants, aton of coffee shops.
So really, whatever you like toeat, you can find here.
Maybe you won't find, you know,like 20 Italian restaurants
(30:12):
that are, like you know, thebest Italian you'll find, but
you'll find a handful andthey're good.
It's surprising to some peoplehow cool some of these places
are and that you know theseplaces exist, especially when
they are just thinking, yeah,okay, we're just gonna eat meat
and dairy in the countryside forlike a week but, then when I
start to show them aroundUlaanbaatar, they're like wow,
(30:32):
it's actually a really modern,like nice city that really
anybody can live in and yeah,that's why I live here.
That's why I like it, because itis it's like a.
You can find everything thatkind of you know makes you happy
here.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Do you find there's any expat community, or would
you rather you know you want tomeet people from around the
world?
Breanna (30:51):
Yeah, I mean there is an expat community, that we have
a US embassy here.
We have, you know, a lot ofNGOs, a lot of nonprofits that
come and do have you know, a lotof NGOs, a lot of non-profits
that come and do you know reallygreat work here.
So there is an expat community.
It's not huge, it's not likeyou know, it's not like you're
walking into a restaurant andit's just full of expats and
that's kind of it.
(31:12):
There are a couple spots whereyou know a lot of expats do hang
out, but most of the timearound the city you don't really
see any foreigners, especiallyin the winter, when it's not the
tourist season.
It's different.
In the summer, when it is thetourist season, you know you'll
see a lot more foreignerswalking around, but they're not
locals, they're travelers.
So that's a bit different.
But yeah, it's not a hugecommunity.
I wouldn't say I'm active in it.
(31:32):
I wouldn't say that's like themajority of my friends are
expats.
It's quite the opposite.
The majority of my friends aremorgulian, um, but yeah, but
it's easy to kind of meet peopleand make friends here and yeah,
once you do sort of find thesespots where people like expect
to hang out, once you meet oneyou kind of meet all of them.
So it's easy to navigate.
It's not like it's hostile orunfriendly or anything like that
(31:52):
.
It's easy to get by here, it'snice, it's.
You know, people are mostlycurious and they're like who,
who are you?
What are you doing here?
Tell us everything.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
So if someone were to go to Ulaanbaatar, how would
you get around?
Do they have just like the Uberor the Grab kind of system, or
do you rent a car If?
Breanna (32:11):
you're just staying in the city.
I mean, if you're staying inthe city center, you can
basically walk to everything.
Otherwise, you can grab a taxioff the street, or we have
basically our version of Uber,which is UB cab, so you can call
it cab.
That way, if you're going tothe countryside, you would
either need to rent a car or youcan take a bus to certain
places, depending on whereyou're going, or you can hire a
(32:34):
driver, which is a fairlyreasonable price.
It's usually about $60 to $dollars to hire a driver in a
car for the day no, and thenyou're.
You're responsible for thedriver's meals and accommodation
and buying the gas.
But yeah, it's.
It's much cheaper than rentinga car actually, um, which is at
least double that cost sometimes.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
Yeah, and then hopefully they know how to get
around better than you would.
Breanna (32:58):
Yeah, exactly, and then the other problem is there's no
Wi-Fi, sort of in a lot ofthese remote places, and then
you're like back there goingwhere am I going?
What's happening?
And then if you get a flat tireor something goes wrong, you
know, you're kind of out there.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
So unless you're really comfortable, and unless
that's your thing like I alwaystell people just to get a driver
and to have them take themaround, yeah, so I was
definitely I was going to askwi-fi internet, like what that
looks like, and I'm assuming, ifyou're in the country there,
that that's not happening well,the latest development which I'm
I'm like it's so excited andalso sort of afraid.
Breanna (33:32):
Uh, starlink, just gonna ask darling, yeah, so so
previously I mean you would geta sim card in the city.
It works in the city, you knowjust fine.
And then once you sort of getto the outskirts and you start
going deeper into thecountryside, service is hit or
miss.
It's getting better.
I've noticed it's now in a lotof places where it hasn't been
(33:53):
in the years past that I've beenhere.
But yeah, basically I stillcan't always post to social
media actually when I'm out inthe countryside.
So even though I have service,it's not very strong and it's
not reliable.
Starlink just launched on the1st of March, so I'm assuming
that's going to change a lot ofthings this summer.
It's going to be interestingget it as well, just for safety
(34:13):
reasons and to have it.
You know, if I'm taking peopleout if there's no cell phone
service, I have a GPS likein-range and SOS service.
But it's always good to be asprepared as possible here
because you never know what'sgoing to happen.
I want to get one just to beextra safe and extra prepared,
(34:35):
especially when I'm out there bymyself.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
And what do people do for fun?
And are they active as well?
And you know, hiking orwhatever.
I was curious what they do.
Breanna (34:50):
Yeah, I mean in the city it's very lively,
especially at night.
You'll see everybody out,either you know, at the bars
sitting outside or doing youknow anything walking around,
all that fun stuff.
H hiking is becoming morepopular here.
I'm trying to think whateveryone's doing now.
Yeah, going hiking in themountains behind the city is,
you know, something a lot ofpeople do?
Speaker 1 (35:09):
wondering if they also like mountain bike or hike,
or are there mountain?
Breanna (35:12):
biking yeah, mountain biking starting to become bigger
, it's starting to become athing.
So these things were neverreally there, were always tiny
communities, and you know a fewpeople like really doing it.
It's starting to become moremainstream.
We also just had an iceclimbing festival, so we had a
bunch of ice climbers come in.
(35:32):
So also, rock climbing isstarting to become more popular.
Uh, yoga is becoming more of athing.
Yeah, it's everybody's activehere.
They like being outside, theylike moving.
It's you know, it's what they.
They do to to have an excuse togo outside, to enjoy the nature
and to find new ways to do that.
That's what everybody's lookingfor, I think what are so your
(35:54):
friends?
Speaker 1 (35:54):
like?
What kind of jobs do they do?
Is it just typical, like sure,there's accountants and dentists
and things like that, but Idon't know if there's.
Is it just typical, like sure,there's accountants and dentists
and things like that, but Idon't know if there's, is it?
Is it like?
What are you?
Breanna (36:07):
is there industry there ?
that's popular yeah we have areally cool like startup
industry, like lots of littletech companies, people launching
apps.
I actually have an air purifierthat's created by this girl who
is basically taking the feltthat's being unused in the
countryside and she's using thatto make filters for air
(36:29):
purifiers.
Wow, yeah, so that's cool.
So that's what I use.
But my other friends are chefsor they work in TV production or
some of them.
My one friend is creating amusic festival for this summer
called Zippy Top and it's like acity festival and it will have
(36:49):
a big lineup of Mongolianartists and an art display and a
cosplay costume sort of element.
Yeah, there's a lot ofinteresting things going on here
.
Yeah, I just met actually thisreally cool guy yesterday who
makes custom hats tomb sort ofelement.
Yeah, there's a lot ofinteresting things going on here
.
Yeah, I just met actually thisreally cool guy yesterday who
makes custom hats and they'relike like Stetson style, like
nice felt hat, like really cool,like probably the last thing
(37:13):
you would expect to find here.
So his, his company name ismonkey hat M U N K Y hat, but so
that was cool.
So I'm going to have him makeme a custom hat soon.
But yeah, there's cool stuffgoing on here.
It's not in your face and it'snot like everywhere.
You know cool new little likebars.
Or you know people designingthings that I didn't they can
(37:47):
make like custom.
You know cashmere jackets orthree piece suits.
Or you know you can have a pairof boots made and they're great
, like leather boots, so you canfind everything here.
It's not like I've never beenlike tired of discovering this
stuff.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
Find everything here.
It's not like I've never beenlike tired of discovering this
stuff, or.
And then do they have anytypical like holidays or time
off, or what does that look likefor the?
Breanna (38:08):
two biggest holidays are okay.
So in the summer the next onecoming up will be notum.
Notum is our national festivalthat revolves around the three
manly sports, so that'swrestling, archery and horse
racing.
Opening ceremonies for Nodhamis always on July 11th and then
the country kind of shuts downfor two weeks and everybody goes
(38:30):
to the countryside and theywatch the horse races, the local
Nodhams, the wrestlingtournaments.
It's a really good time.
It's a tough time to be in thecity because everybody's in the
countryside so a lot of thingsare closed.
Um, but if you're in thecountryside, I mean there's
people everywhere, there's stuffgoing on all the time.
Um, yeah, it's, it's a fun timeto be in the country.
(38:53):
For sure, I actually do a triparound it where we do a horse
trek and then at the end of thehorse trek is sort of the start
of not on.
So then we see the localfestivals in the countryside,
the wrestling tournaments, andlast year we came, we were
horseback riding and we cameacross the smallest Nodom in
Mongolia and we became thehonored guests.
(39:18):
So they put us at the head table.
They were serving us A air rag,which is the fermented mare's
milk that we drink during thattime of year, um, they were,
yeah, giving us the trays ofmeat like I was talking about,
and yeah, we kind of became the,the guests of honor at it, and
then, uh, so that was quite aspecial experience for the
guests that I was with, um, butyeah, that's, I mean, that's
(39:38):
common here.
That's just like how it goessometimes, um, so not as one big
festival and one big, umimportant time to be here.
And then the second is, uh,saginsar, which is our lunar new
year, so that just passed.
So it's kind of like thechinese new year, it's just our
version of it.
And yeah, the country shutsdown for three days, as that
(39:59):
happens, and the holiday itselfis five days, but yeah, and do
they celebrate Christmas as well?
Not per se.
I mean you just see likeChristmas trees around town, but
it's not the same.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
So there's the kids and Christmas presents under on
December 25th.
Breanna (40:18):
No, it's not really like that.
They do exchange presents onNew Year's Eve or New it's no,
it's not really like that.
They do exchange presents onnew year.
Eat on new year's eve or newyear's day um, they'll give
presents, but yeah.
And then you get gifts onsagansar, on lunar new year, um,
but it's not.
It's not like christmas, wherekids wake up and there's 50
presents under the tree and yeah, it's not like that no more old
(40:38):
school.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
yeah well, we are getting close to our end of our
hour.
I have our rapid fire questions, which you're going to be
surprised, since I didn't sendit to you ahead of time.
Sorry, but, kristen, was thereanything else that you wanted to
go before I do those?
If someone wanted to stay therefor an extended time or
something, how much should theybudget to stay there?
Breanna (41:02):
And I know it could vary, but just curious.
I mean I would add a minimum$2,000 a month if they were to
stay here.
So, that's Is a good budgetFood boarding and that's living
a very comfortable lifestyle.
You can do it for much less.
It just depends on your travelstyle and what you're
comfortable with.
That would be what I mean,based on how I live're
comfortable with.
That would be what I mean basedon how I live right now.
(41:22):
That would be a good budgetuh-huh that's no, that's great,
reasonable.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Yeah, it's like they want to go out to eat and have
drinks every night, I guess yeah, yeah, you could probably buy
on that cool all right.
So what is uh, one of thepopular religion or what is the?
It is buddhism.
And do they recognize it?
Because I heard in Japan no onereally says they're Buddhist,
it's just more like just in fora.
Breanna (41:49):
If you ask them what they believe in, they'll say
Buddhism.
There's still a hint ofshamanism and Tengorism, but
Buddhism is probably what themajority I think it's more than
50% say that they're Buddhist.
What did you have for breakfast?
Speaker 1 (42:00):
Yeah, Buddhism is probably what the majority I
think it's more than 50% saythat they're Buddhist.
Yeah, oh, nice, okay.
And what did you have forbreakfast?
What's a typical breakfast foryou there?
Breanna (42:07):
Oh, for me, just coffee .
I like endless, endless amountsof coffee.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
Very French.
Coffee and a cigarette, maybenot a cigarette.
Do people smoke there Vaping?
Breanna (42:20):
is a very popular thing with the?
Uh younger kids.
Uh, smoking is fairly big butyou can't really smoke inside,
which is nice but I wouldn't sayit's like a culture where
you're like gosh, everybodysmokes.
But yeah, I still see it okay.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
And what about the music?
Is there some unique?
Is there a different nomadmusic versus the city music?
Breanna (42:41):
everybody listens to mongole music um.
The traditional music is throatsinging um, but on the radio
they play throat singing, somongole throat singing is like
their traditional style ofsinging um.
I'm sure people know the band,the who.
They are a rock band that isnow famous around the world and
(43:03):
but not the who from the uk.
Speaker 1 (43:05):
Right, a different who.
The who is uh hu okay, myhusband's a huge who fan.
Breanna (43:12):
Yeah, yeah so the who is they kind of have taken the
traditional throat singing thatwe that you'll find here um, and
then they've turned it intorock music and it's they're
playing like huge concertsaround the world and they're
okay, I'm gonna have to youtubethat see what this singing is.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
Sounds very unique.
I won't ask you to sing usanything.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you.
All right, we always like toask where's the closest place to
serve.
I don't think it's anywhere.
To surf.
Oh boy, you're going to have togo to Asia somewhere.
Breanna (43:47):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (43:51):
And what's the money, what's it called and how does
it work?
Exchange when you get there, dothey get credit cards?
Breanna (43:55):
Yeah, so the currency here is Mongolian Tugrik.
We don't have coins, it's onlypaper cash.
You can pull out cash from theATM or you can exchange.
If you exchange, you need tohave crisp new bills.
They don't accept any old billsor any bills that are torn or
ripped or have even theslightest little bend in the
(44:17):
corner.
Oh really, you have to be veryparticular about the bills you
bring.
Little bend in the corner.
Oh really you have to be veryparticular about the bills you
bring.
Yeah and yeah, you can exchangea lot of different places
around the city, yeah, and thenI always tell people have like
cash is king here.
Mastercard doesn't always work,credit cards don't always work.
It's getting more common andthe systems are getting better.
(44:37):
I say this every year and thenall of a sudden, like things
have started to kind of, even mystreet lady selling fruit now
accept credit cards.
Oh wow, okay, so things arevery rapidly modernizing here.
But, yeah, I always tell peopleto have cash, because you just
never know and you just want tobe prepared, because if you
don't have cash, that'saddictive.
Speaker 1 (44:56):
Okay, got it, and so where can people find you Hear
about?
Like your blog URL, yourInstagram?
Where else are you?
Breanna (45:06):
My Instagram is at Brianna J Wilson B-R-E-A-N-N-A-J
Wilson.
Speaker 1 (45:19):
And my Mongolia travel website is
meanwhileinmongoliacomMeanwhileinmongoliacom, and
we'll put these in the shownotes Mongoliacom.
Meanwhile in mongoliacom, andwe'll put these in the show
notes mongoliacom.
How much is it for someone tosign up with you and want to, um
, uh, do one of your trips?
What are the costs?
Breanna (45:29):
uh, yeah, so the women's retreat is currently the
uh lowest priced trip that Ioffer.
That starts at 2900 us dollarsokay um, most of my trips are
usually around for one week yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:43):
And does that, I'm assuming, doesn't include a
flight right.
Someone have to get.
Breanna (45:49):
It doesn't include flights, but it includes
everything once you're sort ofhere during those trip dates.
So accommodation, meals, guidesme, all activities that I
mentioned in the itinerariesthat I write out, so that's
basically all inclusive onceyou're here.
Speaker 1 (46:04):
Nice, and then do you pick up, like from the airport.
Do they have to get?
Breanna (46:08):
Yeah, I pick up from the airport, I take care of you
from start to finish so that Imake sure you're taken care of,
because it is very confusing,it's not straightforward here.
So, yeah, that's everythingincluded, and then what's a
ballpark fee for a flight comingfrom California.
The flight thing has been aconstant battle.
The lowest price I usually findis $1,500.
(46:30):
It can be up to $2,000 for around-trip flight.
At the moment there are hacksto getting around it, like going
to Tokyo and flying in that way.
Or Korea has a budget airlinecalled jeju air uh, j e j u, I
think.
And so if you can get to seoul,sometimes you can find cheaper
flights if you kind of justpiece it together a little bit.
(46:51):
So maybe you go to seoul for aday or two, hang out, take that
flight, you know, up here andthen back there same sort of
scenario.
But yeah, from the us usuallyabout 1500 to 2000 US dollars.
Speaker 1 (47:02):
And when people go to Mongolia, did they ever is?
There is like oh yeah, a lot ofpeople they go to China and
then they hang out there andthen they come to Mongolia and
then they go to Thailand.
Is there any kind of likenormal tour, like more the
digital nomad would do peoplethat are traveling long term?
Breanna (47:16):
Yeah, I mean, if you have the time, you can always
take the train from China andcome in to Mongolia and slow
travel through.
I wouldn't say there's like apath that everybody takes.
It's still, you know, peopleare still unsure about Mongolia
in general, so it's not likewe're part of a regular route of
three places or four places.
(47:37):
People are still trying tofigure out things here, so
that's also what I'm trying tomake more accessible and give
more information about.
But, yeah, I hope people would.
I mean, it's a great place tocome and work for a week, two
weeks.
I have a digital nomad weekwhere I have exactly that
digital nomads coming in so thatI can show them like, yeah, you
can come work here and meetthese cool people I just
(47:57):
mentioned, do these cool thingsand find comfortable workplaces
for a fairly reasonable price.
Yeah, and then you can go on,yeah, like to Hong Kong or Seoul
, or you can go over toKazakhstan.
A lot of people will then dothat.
They'll then go towards CentralAsia.
Speaker 1 (48:13):
Kazakhstan.
Breanna (48:14):
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan.
That's the more common, I think, thing that people do.
Speaker 1 (48:18):
And I was just thinking what Kristen was asking
about.
Like someone stayed there for amonth.
Do they have Airbnbs or can yourent places just?
Breanna (48:25):
for one month.
Yeah yeah, airbnb is popular.
Bookingcom you can findapartments.
Speaker 1 (48:32):
Okay, and is it pretty safe to travel?
If you're a female, safe totravel.
Breanna (48:39):
Yeah, it's like any city where you should be aware
of like pickpockets.
Don't leave your phone on atable and walk away, you know if
you see really drunk peoplewalk in the other direction.
But as far as like feeling safeas a female, I've never felt
unsafe.
I mean I've never really beencat called or heckled.
I've never, like had anyinstances on the street where
(48:59):
I'm like, oh, that heckled.
I've never, like had anyinstances on the street where
I'm like, oh, that was weird oroh, that made me really
uncomfortable.
Speaker 1 (49:08):
I mean, I've walked around the city at every hour of
the day by myself and, yeah, Ihaven't had any issues, awesome,
oh well, thank you so much,brianna.
This is very eyeopening, noidea.
So what's the dates for yourAugust trip?
Breanna (49:16):
Oh, I think it's August 11th through 17th.
Speaker 1 (49:21):
Just in case, just throwing it out, in case
someone's listening andinterested, and then if they
went to meanwhileinmongoliacomto be able to access that trip,
there's a tour section on thewebsite and they'll find a
women's retreat under thatsection.
Breanna (49:39):
I think it says best experience of Mongolia seven day
trip.
Speaker 1 (49:42):
I'm scrolling just to check it out and you've got one
in May which sounds fun Camels,horses and cons.
What's a con?
Breanna (49:49):
It's our word for king.
Speaker 1 (49:51):
Oh okay, live the Mongolia nomadic families during
the small tour group.
And then June 2nd through 9th,digital nomad week, live and
work in Umbatar.
And then July, that's the NadamFestival and horse trek small
group tour.
One spot left, that looks fun.
July 5th through the 13th itsays a two-day horse trek.
(50:12):
So it's 5th through the 13thand then they go two days on a
horse.
Yes, exactly, I've run horses.
I'm all up in that.
That would be awesome.
And then July 24th through the29th you have a six-day mounted
archery training camp.
I saw a lot of horses inarchery, which looked really
good.
Breanna (50:28):
Yeah, that's a new trip I just launched this year.
So one of my friends here sheis this badass mounted archer.
So they gallop at full speedand are shooting arrows at these
targets and it's the mostamazing thing to watch.
So I've teamed up with her andwe're going to do two weekends
of camp.
Speaker 1 (50:47):
Yeah, it looks like you've got 7th through the 12th
and July 24th through the 29thand August.
So, august 7th through the 12thand then July 24th to 29th,
six-day mountain retreattraining camp train like a
mongol warrior and learn how toride and shoot traditional
mounted archery while gallopingacross the step terrain.
And then the august 11ththrough the 17th, seven-day
(51:11):
adventure trip for women only.
That sounds really amazingriding horses, kayaking, so
soaking up beautiful sceneryTrip.
Perfect for women looking togain more confidence in the
outdoors, which I think, yeah,when you're going to the
Mongolia for the outdoors, youare really going outdoors, right
?
Yeah, yeah, we're doing it.
Breanna (51:33):
But the best way to do it is to just jump right in.
Speaker 1 (51:36):
Oh heck yeah, I am all down for that.
I definitely.
I actually at that time I takeGirl Scouts backpacking.
Breanna (51:45):
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (51:47):
So but I am, yeah, I may have to switch one of those
years.
That looks really fun.
Love to keep in touch and seeabout more of your trips and
thank you so much for sharingabout Mongolia.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you, thank you so much.
Have a great day.
Good night, oh yeah.
Have a great day, yeah.
Breanna (52:07):
All right, bye.
Speaker 1 (52:11):
Thanks for listening.
If you enjoyed the podcast, canyou please take a second and do
a quick follow of the show andrate us in your podcast app, and
if you have a minute, we wouldreally appreciate a review.
Following and rating is thebest way to support us.
If you're on Instagram, let'sconnect.
We're at where next podcast.
Thanks again, thank you.
Hi, welcome to our podcast.
We're Next Travel with Kristenand Carol.
I am Kristen and I am Carol,and we're two long-term friends
with a passion for travel andadventure.
Each episode, we interviewpeople around the globe to help
us decide where to go next.
So today we have Brianna Wilson, an American who has spent a
(00:37):
lot of time in Mongolia and willtell us all about it.
Thank you for joining us today.
Yeah, thank you for having me,and so you're in Mongolia right
now.
Breanna (00:46):
I am in Ulaanbaatar right now, so I'm in the capital
.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
And so what brought you to Mongolia?
What do you do?
I see here it says Mongoliatravel expert, that you're
specific to Mongolia.
How long have you been there?
Breanna (01:00):
I have been coming here since 2018.
I have been coming here since2018, and I came just like every
other tourist.
I came to do a horseback tripup to the Tatton tribe, which is
the tribe that rides reindeer.
As soon as I got here, I kindof realized Mongolia was a
totally different beast andplace, and I made an excuse to
(01:21):
come back the next year in 2019and ride a motorcycle, a Ural.
It's a motorcycle with asidecar.
I did that with another friendand we drove halfway across the
country and just went outmeeting nomadic families and had
just this insane experience.
And then I've basically beencoming back every summer ever
since, and now I'm here inwinter.
(01:42):
So this is a whole differentadventure for me as well,
because, yeah, the average islike negative 30 degrees Celsius
.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
So very cold.
I figured it was very cold.
Breanna (01:52):
Yeah, it's cold but it's.
I just came back from thecountryside, I did a trip up
north and it's just so beautifulbecause everything's in this
blanket of white and it's justvery quiet.
And it is much more difficultto travel in winter, obviously,
because we don't really have alot of paved roads once you kind
of go off the main highways.
So you have to be verycomfortable in a good four by
(02:14):
four to get anywhere in thewinter and so you're staying
there right now, like you'reliving there yeah, so I'm in my
apartment right now.
um, I live in ulumbatar and,yeah, I have a car here.
So I try to go out to thecountryside as much as possible
and I take tourists out as well.
So I organize sort ofexperiences with locals and we
go visit nomadic families and wedo all the stuff that I fell in
(02:37):
love with here.
So I just try to share that andgive people that same
experience.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Wow, and what's the elevation there?
It's so cold, is it in themountains?
It looks like it was.
Breanna (02:47):
Yeah, we're about 4,500 feet, maybe a little bit less,
above sea level.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
So some snow, but not a lot of snow.
So it kind of looked it's likeyou're like Northern Montana,
canada, almost Exactly, exactly.
Okay, when did you move there?
It sounds like you're there nowlike full time.
Breanna (03:06):
Yeah, so when I came back in 2019, I rented an
apartment with the same friendthat we did the motorcycle trip
with.
It was like three months, fourmonths.
We basically stayed for thesummer, because the summer is
when the weather is the mostagreeable, it's when all the
tourists come, it's when thecity and the countryside is just
stunning and everything'slively.
There's so much going on.
(03:26):
So I came back in 2019 andstarted living here part-time
and then in 2020, we were goingto launch the motorcycle
adventure that we did as a tripwith guests, but then obviously,
the pandemic happened and thatdidn't come to fruition.
So I didn't make it back in2020, but I made it back in 2021
(03:47):
.
It was still a weird time fortourists.
So I just kind of came back andmoved into this apartment that
I'm in now and just got settledinto life here and, yeah, spent
that summer here, and then thelast summer was sort of the
first real tourist season thatwe had back in the country.
So last year I had a lot ofguests and tours and I'm also a
journalist, so I do a lot oftravel writing.
(04:09):
I've been doing a lot of pieceson Mongolia lately, just because
now that's kind of what I'vebecome synonymous with and you
know I am able to speak on adeeper level about the culture
and what's happening here versus, you know, most travel writers.
This is how it works you go onan assignment for a week or two
in a country and you have towrite an article and you're an
expert and that's great andthat's fantastic and people
(04:30):
write amazing pieces about theirexperiences.
But, yeah, I'm able to offer alittle bit different insight and
I travel around solo a lotwithin the country.
I drive my own car, I gocamping and wild and, yeah,
overlanding and driving off road, so it gives me a different
perspective.
I go a bit deeper than you knowsome other people can go.
So, yeah, that's what I try toshare with the world as well.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
That's pretty bold.
So where were you from?
In the United States?
Breanna (04:56):
I grew up in Pittsburgh .
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Oh, okay, pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I'm assuming,
because that's Pittsburgh righthere in California.
Oh, that's right.
Yeah, there is that Pittsburgh?
Breanna (05:04):
Yeah, the one on the East Coast.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Language-wise.
How is that in terms of beingover there?
Breanna (05:11):
It's interesting.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Is it Chinese or is it something that?
Breanna (05:15):
No, they speak Mongolian, so the local language
is Mongolian.
It's not like you're in aEuropean city where everybody
else speaks English.
It's quite the opposite.
So I'm working very, very, veryhard to learn Mongolian, but it
is a very hard language.
So I know enough to get by andI'm dedicating a lot of time to
(05:36):
it.
But, yeah, you kind of need toknow the basics just to get by
here.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
So what are some of the basics?
What does it sound like?
Breanna (05:43):
So basically, when you walk into a family care, you say
, and they say, like that's justyour formal greeting for
everybody you know everywhereevery time, and then you can ask
their name and yeah, then youjust kind of get the
conversation going from there.
So my, my language skills arekind of like a child.
I'm good with the kids, butwhen it comes to like deeper
(06:05):
conversations with the adults, Ikind of stumble a little bit.
But the beautiful thing aboutthis country is that body
language and smiling and justlike you just sort of learn how
to communicate without reallycommunicating.
I don't know how to explain it,but it just works very nicely
here.
Yeah, I mean, we just kind ofyou kind of look at each other
and you look at the horse or youlook at the gear or the tee and
(06:28):
you're like, oh, yeah, and evenif you're speaking English and
they're speaking Mongolian, yousomehow understand each other.
It's very interesting.
So, yeah, that's how I get by.
A lot is I'm like, okay, here'smy basic skills.
And then I'm like, okay,nevermind, like let me just
point or laugh or like you know,pick it up in there.
Yeah, they kind of just do thesame with you and you get by.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
So do you have a guide or someone to help you the
first time you went?
Breanna (06:51):
Yeah, so most of the time when I travel I have a
translator or a guide.
It kind of, you know, makesthat process a bit smoother,
because there are a lot oflittle details about things here
, like when you walk into a yurtwe call them gears here.
When you walk into a gear, like, you're supposed to go to the
left and guests sit in anotherparticular spot and the family
(07:13):
sits in another spot, and whenyou grab a bowl of tea from your
host, you always grab with yourright hand or two hands.
You don't point your feetdirectly at the host.
So there's a lot of littlethings.
There's a lot of little thingsthat of course, you know.
When they see that you're aforeigner, they don't really
scold you or anything, but it'sgood to know these basic little
things.
So there's not a lot ofinformation out there.
(07:34):
So most people come having noidea what to expect, which is
amazing because that's, I think,the way that Mongolia is best
experienced.
But yeah if they're going to doit on their own, I want to have
them at least a little bitprepared, or at least give
people some information.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
And so what are the feet pointing directly at the
person?
Why is that a bad thing?
What does that mean?
Breanna (07:52):
It's just very rude and you never show the soles of
your feet to a host.
It just is, yeah, super rude.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
You don't plop your feet up on the couch.
Breanna (08:03):
Nope, nope, nope, none of that, none of that, yeah.
So I'm always like veryconscious of how I'm sitting and
like at some point you just getrelaxed and you go back at your
old habits, and then you'relike oh my gosh.
Oh, I'm so sorry.
Like it's all right, I'm likeit's okay.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Who cares here?
What keeps you in Mongolia?
So that keeps you in Mongolia,like why, why there and why live
there full time and not backhere in the U?
S?
Breanna (08:27):
it's those same things I just explained.
I mean, the nomadic lifestyleis just endlessly fascinating to
me.
The fact that they arebasically self-sufficient and
sustainable and they move theirfamily, you know, three to four
times a year they follow theiranimals around the countryside.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
They okay family three to four times a year.
They follow their animalsaround the countryside.
Okay, so some of our listenersmight think nomad.
We think like digital nomad.
You're talking about old schoolnomad, where you're moving
based on where the food is,where the water is, that kind of
thing.
Yep, yep.
So these are the indigenouspeople.
Breanna (09:01):
Yes, these are the Mongolians who have been living
this way for thousands andthousands and thousands of years
.
I mean, they still live in thefelt tents that you know they
did back in the days ofChinggatan.
Do they have electricity?
A lot of them now have solarpanels, so they do have lights,
or they have a car battery thatthey will hook up light to, so
they have lights within the gareand they use the solar to, like
(09:23):
, charge their phones, becausenow they all have cell phones.
So there is electricity.
There's no running water, sousually there's a big like blue
plastic bucket that they getwater from, either a well or the
stream or a spring that'snearby, and then how do they
manage that when it's minus 30degrees Just?
Speaker 1 (09:41):
have to be a running stream that doesn't freeze up, I
guess 30 degrees.
Breanna (09:44):
Does it have to be a running stream that doesn't
freeze up?
I guess yeah, most of therivers and streams will freeze.
So they have an ice pick andthey just have one spot that
they normally use and thenthey'll use the ice pick, or if
they're, it depends on wherethey are.
Sometimes there is like aspring or something that is
constantly running.
So if that's the case, that'swhat they use, but they figure
it out, they get by.
Most of them go now to the samesort of areas each season.
(10:06):
So one of the families I justvisited last week they have like
actually a little log cabin,but we went with him to get
water.
Basically, you walk 500 metersand then there's one spot it
looks like a hiking stick butit's very thick, and then on the
end is this huge metal chiselalmost, and then he digs a new
hole.
Every time he needs water,which is usually every day or
(10:28):
every other day, they go and getwater and yeah, and then he
uses that pick, digs a new hole,gets the water to come up, and
then he sits, fills up hisbucket, takes them back.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
When you're visiting the nomadic, the people, then
you're not in the cityUlaanbaatar, right, because
that's more modern it looks likeright, yeah, okay, got it.
Breanna (10:47):
But how do they get heat?
So there's a stove in thecenter of the gare.
So when you look at a gare, thetop is this like almost sort of
open oculus.
They used to use it to telltime, um, but wow.
But now they stick the chimneypipe up through that and then
you know, basically, know,basically, when you're driving
through the countryside you seeif someone's home, because you
(11:08):
see if there's smoke coming outof their chimney.
So there's a.
It depends on where they live,but it's either wood fired or
it's fired by dry dung orwhatever they have.
They burn in it and that's howthey eat Wow.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
It's like going back in time.
Huh, I'm looking at thepictures.
There's like desert and thenthere's green right.
Breanna (11:28):
Yeah, we have a bit of everything.
So in the south we have theGobi Desert, which is insanely
harsh and you know endless sandand dry, flat landscape, and
then in the north we have thesereally crazy mountains.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
And in the west we also have, yeah, have, yeah, the
alta mountains and beautifuljust like very tall mountains
down to the very green lushvalleys.
And what was the desert called?
Is it sound like a familiarname, goby desert?
Okay, and it's got camels there.
Breanna (11:56):
It looks like yep, so we have back drain camels, which
are the two humped camels,uh-huh.
And yeah, I spend a lot of timewith some camel herding
families.
That's one of the experiencesthat I offer is they go live
with one of the families that Iwork with a lot and, yeah, we
learn how to like saddle a cameland then we go on rides in the
dunes, take the camels to getwater.
Yeah, learn about what they eatdude, is this like?
Speaker 1 (12:18):
do you just change lives and people how they
perceive life after they gothere for the first time?
I mean, obviously did for you.
Breanna (12:25):
Yeah, it reminds me of my first time.
Every time I see someone likego like this isn't a tourist
trap, this isn't just for show,like this is actually how they
live every day, it makes me veryhappy to show people that
people still survive this way,they're happy.
I mean, mongolian deal with alot, and yet they smile at you,
(12:45):
they're happy.
They just, you know, get onwith life.
There's no complaining, there'sno like quitting, giving up.
It's like they just go on.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Or any of them work or their work is just surviving
every day.
Breanna (12:59):
It depends on the family and it depends on where
they are.
I mean, there are little townsall across the country, so some
people will work in the zoo, thecamel herding family, the mom
that we go to she's a teacher,so in the winter she teaches at
the local school.
I mean there's still jobs intown, so a lot of them will
either pump gas or work at thelittle store or one of the
(13:19):
restaurants.
But yeah, some families,they're strictly herding
families and that's it.
It just depends on where theyare, the situation and how big
the family is Like.
Yeah, if the kids can take careof the animals, I can go work,
or vice versa.
So yeah, it depends.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Do they have high rises or buildings or anything?
Because I'm just looking atyour Instagram, I'm not looking
at Mongolia in general.
Breanna (13:40):
Yeah, so Ulaanbaatar, where I live, is a fairly modern
city.
It's still a small city by alot of standards.
It's not like going to Seoul orTokyo or anything that you
would kind of expect in Asia.
Mongolia is a post-Sovietcountry, so we still have that
(14:03):
architecture when you look atour opera house and the drama
theater.
So it's still very present inthat sense when you look at the
architecture.
But, yeah, we have a lot of newbuildings going up.
A lot of people are moving tothe city just because, yeah,
life as a nomad is very hard andwe had a really tough winter
this year and some people lostall of their animals, which is
kind of what happened back inthe 90s when Mongolia became an
independent country.
They also had a really bad Zud,which is this really tough
(14:26):
winter that I'm talking about,and a lot of families lost their
herds.
So they just said, okay, let'sjust move to the city.
So the city really increased inpopulation in the 90s because
of that.
So, yeah, so a lot of people domove to the city just to try to
find a different life, havedifferent experiences, or maybe
they're getting older and theyjust, you know, want a little
easier life, and so the city isexpanding.
(14:47):
We have a lot of high rises, youknow, going up, a lot of
building going on.
The biggest complaint in thecity is usually the traffic,
because the city was not builtfor this many people and the
roads are very skinny, butsomehow we make it work.
Can you just like I said,mongolians just kind of get on
with life, but you know, youfigure said Mongolians just kind
of get on with life, but youknow, you figured out, people
still walk the streets here,even at negative 30, negative 35
(15:09):
.
And they're still walking towork or bicycling to work or
however they have to get there.
They get there and yeah, I justreally appreciate how they just
get on with it.
There's no like crying in thecorner, there's no like taking a
day off, it's just.
It is what it is and let's moveon with it.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
So what's a typical day look like in Mongolia?
Breanna (15:30):
For me every day is different.
But I mean, in this city I havea very like normal city life.
You know, I'll go get a coffeein the morning at the local
coffee shop.
I'll, you know, meet friendsfor lunch or brunch.
No-transcript.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
So when does that transition, when does like
summer kick in?
Breanna (16:16):
So usually about April it starts to become spring and
then by May it starts to becomelike everybody can be outside.
Some days you have really warm,like spring summer days, and
then it goes back to likesnowing.
So, it's kind of like you knowthat in-between period, but by
June everything is green andnice.
And yeah, june is usually aboutwhen it starts.
(16:37):
That's usually the first ofsummer.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Sounds very like Minnesota, almost the climate,
it's very cold and then everyonejust goes crazy in the summer
like we could be outside yeahexactly Everyone's wearing
shorts and I'm still like in acashmere jacket at night like
I'm freezing.
So what do you do for work then?
Is your travel, writing andtours your full-time work these
(17:02):
days?
Breanna (17:02):
Yeah, so in the winter I mostly work on my travel
writing.
I'm a freelance travel writer.
I, you know I write forpublications all around the
world and so in the winter I doa lot more writing, I do a lot
more of that sort of journalist,you know, sort of hat, if
that's how you'd like to say it.
Because yeah, the tours hereonly really we kick off the
(17:25):
first tour at the end of May andthen I'll run tours through the
first of October, but then Ihave the rest of that time sort
of to myself.
So between October and usuallyabout the end of April,
beginning of May, I don't haveany tours at the moment.
But that's actually why I cameback is to sort of scout some
winter experiences for next year, so that I can extend the
(17:46):
season.
And you know it's tough to runa business when you can only do
it for six months at a time andyou know, only hire guides and
teams for those months.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Well you do have, if you want to talk about your
women's retreat coming up in.
Breanna (17:58):
August, yeah, so this year is the first year I'm
launching a women's retreat andthen we will basically go up to
this province called Selang andwe will stay in one place and I
will curate a bunch ofexperiences basically the same
thing we would experience if wewent to any other part of the
countryside.
We'll meet nomadic families.
We'll spend time with them.
We'll have Mongolian cuisinefor dinner.
(18:19):
Families We'll spend time withthem.
We'll have Mongolian cuisinefor dinner.
We'll spend our afternoonseither hiking or kayaking and
just experiencing the beautifulcountryside, because that area
is really green and we'll beright on a river.
So it's just a beautiful sortof place.
It's actually one of myfavorite places to go by myself,
and just sort of disconnect.
So the province is called Tuleng.
It's north of Ulaanbaatar, sowe'll take the train from
(18:43):
Ulaanbaatar and we'll take it upto Tulang.
That's part of the experience.
The train is an experience initself.
It's a very local sort of thing.
So we'll do that.
That's how we'll get up thereand then, yeah, everybody stays
in a yurt and we just kind oflive like nomads for the week
and I bring some special friendsup to help us sort of get you
(19:06):
know all of the experiences thatI think are important for
people to have here.
You know, learn about differentthings like the calligraphy and
you know, do differentexperiences around the local
culture here and yeah, and thenjust meet a group of really cool
women.
I mean, people who come toMongolia are amazing.
They definitely are differentsort of travelers.
It's not easy to travel here.
(19:27):
There aren't always roads toplaces.
We don't always have beautifulrest stops to go to the bathroom
in, so it attracts a personwith a very open and adventurous
spirit.
So I'm hoping that this I knowthat this group will be exactly
that, and so it's a really coolchance to get to meet other
travelers that are verylike-minded and similar, but to
(19:48):
also get a real sense forMongolia and what's going on
here, and but also spend timedisconnecting and just sort of
being in the landscape andsurrounded by good vibes.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
And how do?
Where do you fly into?
Breanna (19:59):
You will fly into Ulaanbaatar.
This is the only realinternational airport, so
everybody flies through here.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
So coming from the US .
How would you get there?
Do you have to like fly throughTokyo or Singapore?
Breanna (20:13):
You can fly through either Seoul.
So if you're coming from theWest Coast, flying Korean air
through Seoul is usually theroute I recommend.
If you're coming from the EastCoast, it would be the Turkish
Airlines and Istanbul.
You could also fly throughFrankfurt or Tokyo, but Istanbul
and Seoul are usually thelayover cities I recommend.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Okay.
Is that going from both sidesof the world around, or is it
just both going?
Breanna (20:41):
yeah, both sides around .
So if you go, if you would flythrough korea on the way here
and fly through istanbul on theway home, you would technically
go around the world exactly well, there's that, yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
yeah, that's kind of neat, neat.
What does?
When you say Mongolian cuisine,what does that look like?
I think Mongolian beef that'sthe only thing, right, yes.
Breanna (21:07):
Well, the funny thing about that, and like Mongolian
barbecue, is that is notMongolian.
It was actually created by aguy in Taiwan who wanted this
very exotic dish in one of hisrestaurants.
So most people come and theysay that and I'm like actually
in reality, the diet here isvery meat and dairy heavy.
(21:29):
I do have conversations witheveryone that comes with me on
my trip just about their dietaryrestrictions and things that
they should know, because, yeah,the diet here is really meat
and dairy heavy.
It's what the nomadic familieshave, it's their resources, it's
how they live, and part of theexperience is that I want people
to eat with them and I want usto eat together and that's how
(21:49):
you bond and we cook together.
I usually have one of the momsshow us how to make the local
dishes.
Like boots are basically ourmeat dumplings, so anyone who's
familiar with like xiaolongbao,it's basically similar to that.
And then we have a noodle dishcalled suvin.
Husher is another very populardish.
It's kind of like an empanada.
(22:10):
It's basically, you know,flattened meat in a fried pastry
.
Those are like the big threethat most tourists become
familiar with.
And then, yeah, as I mentioned,every time you walk into a gear
you're offered milk tea andit's like a salty milk tea.
Yeah, so that's like that to meis like the most comforting
thing.
So, as soon as you walk intoany gear, that's the first thing
(22:31):
you get offered, and even ifyou don't drink dairy or you
know, maybe you don't reallywant to drink it, you always
have to accept it and you canjust sit with it in your hand.
You don't even really need todrink it, but you always accept
it.
Just if the host is offeringyou something I mean, that's
their resource that camestraight from the cow or the
goat that are directly outsideof the yurt.
Oh wow, that is like as freshas it gets.
(22:53):
You always accept it and youknow you show your gratitude and
that, like I said, that goes along way here, as long as you
just show your gratitude andyou're thankful for the
experience.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
you know you don't really need communication to get
by, but yeah, so do you thinkthe nomadic people like
appreciate that people arecoming to learn?
Maybe it helps support them alittle bit?
Or they're like, ah, keep thesetourists out of here.
No, they appreciate it.
Breanna (23:16):
I mean, like I said, as long as the tourist is
respectful and, you know,appreciates things and they're
not just showing up to kind ofMongolian hospitality is famous
because they are so warm andthey are so welcoming.
I mean I've been in situationswhere I've been driving and you
know it's getting later in theday and I'm asking for
directions and they say, oh,come in and have tea.
(23:37):
And then before you know itthey're like just sleep here,
like it's okay.
You can just stay here with usand you know, the next morning
when you go to leave, you'relike you have to have that
conversation.
That's usually awkward andyou're like, okay, well, how
much do I owe you?
And usually they're just likeit's okay, like don't worry
about it.
That's not really the precedentthey want to set.
I don't want people just cominghere thinking like you can just
(23:59):
stay with any family and notpay them and that's fine.
It's nice when it happens, yeah, sure, but that's still like
they've opened their home andthey're so kind to you.
So maybe, if I don't pay themin money, I leave them like
flour or oil or whatever solarlights I'm not maybe using at
that time.
So I try to leave other stuffand pay them in other ways of
(24:19):
not maybe using at that time.
So I try to leave other stuffand pay them in other ways.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Oh wow, that is hospitality.
Is it safe?
Yeah, the hospitality is okay,and the food, and like, did you
get, like you know, tummy aches?
Or you know, like, is theremonozuma-ish kind of issues, or
how is that experience?
Breanna (24:36):
Yeah, the diet can affect your stomach, just
because sometimes it's reallyeither greasy or oily.
That's usually what affects meafter a few days of eating it.
And yeah, because it is a lotof meat and it depends on the
season, and I do try to bringvegetables in my car, but then I
can be like, oh, can we makelike a you know coleslaw salad
(24:56):
or you know something on theside, because yeah, it is just
meat and fried bread, so thatcan kind of wear on you if
you're not used to it.
Like I don't eat meat like thatevery day.
So when I go to the countryside, you know to live like that for
five, six, seven days, yourstomach kind of goes like no, no
, no, where's that like oatmealthat we normally eat in the
morning?
Or where's that steak saladthat we're used to eating?
(25:18):
so it does sort of, you know itcan wear on people.
Um, I try to bring, you know,snacks and supplements, and you
know, some nights we'll just say, okay, tonight we're gonna make
pasta or tonight we'll make.
Sometimes you just wantsomething comforting, like mac
and cheese, um, so I try tobring just like little things so
we can break it up.
You know lots of ramen andother things like fresh eggs and
(25:41):
, like I said, vegetables, ifmaybe that's just what people
want that day.
It's very simple.
It's not, you know, overlyspiced, it's not overly
complicated.
It's basically kind of boiledor fried meat and then you just
kind of pick at it with yourhands and everybody eats
together out of one big, usuallylike tray.
Usually all the meat is dumpedon the tray if they're making
(26:02):
like a big meal for everybody.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
And what kind of vegetables Do they do?
Vegetables with their meal,like we do?
Or it sounds like if it's thereand grown, great.
If not, and if they're a nomad,no, yeah, so.
Breanna (26:14):
I mean sometimes they have like the jars of you know
pickled vegetables, which isalways nice.
Potatoes are pretty common,carrots, onions that's usually
what you find in a in a nomadichome, if they have you know
vegetables that they picked upeither from the zoom or if
someone brought them for them.
But as far as like lettuce goes, it's not something you would
find usually in a nomadic home.
(26:35):
Not really any fruits either.
So yeah, I usually bring fruitwe import.
So when you're in the city youcan find all of this stuff.
I mean I go to the store and Ibuy bananas and oranges and
apples and, you know, lettuceand everything I would buy back
in the states I'd buy here inthe capital.
That's not an issue at all.
(26:56):
But yeah, once you get to thecountryside the selection of
fruits in the local stores isusually not as fresh because
it's not supplied as often.
But yeah, sometimes it's okay.
It just depends on where youare.
But yeah, you won't really findfruit in a nomadic family's
home.
It's not what they prefer toeat.
Like I said, they're veryself-sufficient.
In the summer they eat a lot ofthe dairy, so they'll make
(27:17):
dried curds and cheeses and thenjust kind of live off of that,
and then in the winter they eatmore meat.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
What's their health like and what do they tend to
live until?
Typically, what's theirlifespan?
Breanna (27:31):
Well, you'll always notice when you go to the
countryside that the nomadicfamilies have the best teeth.
So they always have verystraight, straight, very white
teeth because they eat reallyhard meat and really hard
cheeses.
Just growing up from a youngage, so their teeth are amazing.
I'm always like, oh my gosh,like let's trade.
Um, as they get older, thereare some issues with like
(27:53):
cholesterol and stuff like that.
I'm not sure what the lifespanis, but I've.
I've been in the countrysideand grand grands like 80, 90 and
still getting water, cookingfood, telling everybody what to
do.
So, yeah, I mean it is amazingwhen you run into the older
generations and start to havechats with them about how life
has changed and what they'veseen.
(28:14):
And yeah, I really like whenthat happens, it's one of my
favorite experiences.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
I just Googled it and it says 72.14 years.
Oh, I wonder about the US.
Let's check the United Statesactually.
Breanna (28:28):
Oh yeah, that would be interesting to know.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
United States, 77.28 years oh okay, a little longer.
I'm like what's the best one?
Okay, so what's the cost ofliving where you are?
Breanna (28:50):
So the cost of living is definitely less than in the
States and probably even lessthan in some European cities,
but I don't think that Mongoliais as cheap as people always
assume.
Like the coffee would be like$2, $2.50.
You can get lunch for less than$10, dinner for probably about
$20.
Okay, so it's not like Thailand.
(29:15):
It's not like Thailand.
It's not yeah, it's not a placethat people come just because
it's cheap.
That's definitely not the case.
I mean, we import a lot ofthings and, you know, getting a
drink is still like $10.
It's not like yeah, it's not aplace that you come just because
it's cheap.
I think people come herethinking that it is and then
they go oh, it's not really ascheap as we thought.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
So you talked about typical meals, and is that?
Breanna (29:51):
just for the nomadic family?
What about, like, if someonewere to go to the cities?
Or is it the same type of foodswe have, you know, spanish
restaurants, japanese, koreanfood.
Korean food's really big herein Hot Pot.
That's really big in the city.
It's like any other city.
We have a ton of restaurants, aton of coffee shops.
So really, whatever you like toeat, you can find here.
Maybe you won't find, you know,like 20 Italian restaurants
(30:12):
that are, like you know, thebest Italian you'll find, but
you'll find a handful andthey're good.
It's surprising to some peoplehow cool some of these places
are and that you know theseplaces exist, especially when
they are just thinking, yeah,okay, we're just gonna eat meat
and dairy in the countryside forlike a week but, then when I
start to show them aroundUlaanbaatar, they're like wow,
(30:32):
it's actually a really modern,like nice city that really
anybody can live in and yeah,that's why I live here.
That's why I like it, because itis it's like a.
You can find everything thatkind of you know makes you happy
here.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Do you find there's any expat community, or would
you rather you know you want tomeet people from around the
world?
Breanna (30:51):
Yeah, I mean there is an expat community, that we have
a US embassy here.
We have, you know, a lot ofNGOs, a lot of nonprofits that
come and do have you know, a lotof NGOs, a lot of non-profits
that come and do you know reallygreat work here.
So there is an expat community.
It's not huge, it's not likeyou know, it's not like you're
walking into a restaurant andit's just full of expats and
that's kind of it.
(31:12):
There are a couple spots whereyou know a lot of expats do hang
out, but most of the timearound the city you don't really
see any foreigners, especiallyin the winter, when it's not the
tourist season.
It's different.
In the summer, when it is thetourist season, you know you'll
see a lot more foreignerswalking around, but they're not
locals, they're travelers.
So that's a bit different.
But yeah, it's not a hugecommunity.
I wouldn't say I'm active in it.
(31:32):
I wouldn't say that's like themajority of my friends are
expats.
It's quite the opposite.
The majority of my friends aremorgulian, um, but yeah, but
it's easy to kind of meet peopleand make friends here and yeah,
once you do sort of find thesespots where people like expect
to hang out, once you meet oneyou kind of meet all of them.
So it's easy to navigate.
It's not like it's hostile orunfriendly or anything like that
(31:52):
.
It's easy to get by here, it'snice, it's.
You know, people are mostlycurious and they're like who,
who are you?
What are you doing here?
Tell us everything.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
So if someone were to go to Ulaanbaatar, how would
you get around?
Do they have just like the Uberor the Grab kind of system, or
do you rent a car If?
Breanna (32:11):
you're just staying in the city.
I mean, if you're staying inthe city center, you can
basically walk to everything.
Otherwise, you can grab a taxioff the street, or we have
basically our version of Uber,which is UB cab, so you can call
it cab.
That way, if you're going tothe countryside, you would
either need to rent a car or youcan take a bus to certain
places, depending on whereyou're going, or you can hire a
(32:34):
driver, which is a fairlyreasonable price.
It's usually about $60 to $dollars to hire a driver in a
car for the day no, and thenyou're.
You're responsible for thedriver's meals and accommodation
and buying the gas.
But yeah, it's.
It's much cheaper than rentinga car actually, um, which is at
least double that cost sometimes.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
Yeah, and then hopefully they know how to get
around better than you would.
Breanna (32:58):
Yeah, exactly, and then the other problem is there's no
Wi-Fi, sort of in a lot ofthese remote places, and then
you're like back there goingwhere am I going?
What's happening?
And then if you get a flat tireor something goes wrong, you
know, you're kind of out there.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
So unless you're really comfortable, and unless
that's your thing like I alwaystell people just to get a driver
and to have them take themaround, yeah, so I was
definitely I was going to askwi-fi internet, like what that
looks like, and I'm assuming, ifyou're in the country there,
that that's not happening well,the latest development which I'm
I'm like it's so excited andalso sort of afraid.
Breanna (33:32):
Uh, starlink, just gonna ask darling, yeah, so so
previously I mean you would geta sim card in the city.
It works in the city, you knowjust fine.
And then once you sort of getto the outskirts and you start
going deeper into thecountryside, service is hit or
miss.
It's getting better.
I've noticed it's now in a lotof places where it hasn't been
(33:53):
in the years past that I've beenhere.
But yeah, basically I stillcan't always post to social
media actually when I'm out inthe countryside.
So even though I have service,it's not very strong and it's
not reliable.
Starlink just launched on the1st of March, so I'm assuming
that's going to change a lot ofthings this summer.
It's going to be interestingget it as well, just for safety
(34:13):
reasons and to have it.
You know, if I'm taking peopleout if there's no cell phone
service, I have a GPS likein-range and SOS service.
But it's always good to be asprepared as possible here
because you never know what'sgoing to happen.
I want to get one just to beextra safe and extra prepared,
(34:35):
especially when I'm out there bymyself.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
And what do people do for fun?
And are they active as well?
And you know, hiking orwhatever.
I was curious what they do.
Breanna (34:50):
Yeah, I mean in the city it's very lively,
especially at night.
You'll see everybody out,either you know, at the bars
sitting outside or doing youknow anything walking around,
all that fun stuff.
H hiking is becoming morepopular here.
I'm trying to think whateveryone's doing now.
Yeah, going hiking in themountains behind the city is,
you know, something a lot ofpeople do?
Speaker 1 (35:09):
wondering if they also like mountain bike or hike,
or are there mountain?
Breanna (35:12):
biking yeah, mountain biking starting to become bigger
, it's starting to become athing.
So these things were neverreally there, were always tiny
communities, and you know a fewpeople like really doing it.
It's starting to become moremainstream.
We also just had an iceclimbing festival, so we had a
bunch of ice climbers come in.
(35:32):
So also, rock climbing isstarting to become more popular.
Uh, yoga is becoming more of athing.
Yeah, it's everybody's activehere.
They like being outside, theylike moving.
It's you know, it's what they.
They do to to have an excuse togo outside, to enjoy the nature
and to find new ways to do that.
That's what everybody's lookingfor, I think what are so your
(35:54):
friends?
Speaker 1 (35:54):
like?
What kind of jobs do they do?
Is it just typical, like sure,there's accountants and dentists
and things like that, but Idon't know if there's.
Is it just typical, like sure,there's accountants and dentists
and things like that, but Idon't know if there's, is it?
Is it like?
What are you?
Breanna (36:07):
is there industry there ?
that's popular yeah we have areally cool like startup
industry, like lots of littletech companies, people launching
apps.
I actually have an air purifierthat's created by this girl who
is basically taking the feltthat's being unused in the
countryside and she's using thatto make filters for air
(36:29):
purifiers.
Wow, yeah, so that's cool.
So that's what I use.
But my other friends are chefsor they work in TV production or
some of them.
My one friend is creating amusic festival for this summer
called Zippy Top and it's like acity festival and it will have
(36:49):
a big lineup of Mongolianartists and an art display and a
cosplay costume sort of element.
Yeah, there's a lot ofinteresting things going on here
.
Yeah, I just met actually thisreally cool guy yesterday who
makes custom hats tomb sort ofelement.
Yeah, there's a lot ofinteresting things going on here
.
Yeah, I just met actually thisreally cool guy yesterday who
makes custom hats and they'relike like Stetson style, like
nice felt hat, like really cool,like probably the last thing
(37:13):
you would expect to find here.
So his, his company name ismonkey hat M U N K Y hat, but so
that was cool.
So I'm going to have him makeme a custom hat soon.
But yeah, there's cool stuffgoing on here.
It's not in your face and it'snot like everywhere.
You know cool new little likebars.
Or you know people designingthings that I didn't they can
(37:47):
make like custom.
You know cashmere jackets orthree piece suits.
Or you know you can have a pairof boots made and they're great
, like leather boots, so you canfind everything here.
It's not like I've never beenlike tired of discovering this
stuff.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
Find everything here.
It's not like I've never beenlike tired of discovering this
stuff, or.
And then do they have anytypical like holidays or time
off, or what does that look likefor the?
Breanna (38:08):
two biggest holidays are okay.
So in the summer the next onecoming up will be notum.
Notum is our national festivalthat revolves around the three
manly sports, so that'swrestling, archery and horse
racing.
Opening ceremonies for Nodhamis always on July 11th and then
the country kind of shuts downfor two weeks and everybody goes
(38:30):
to the countryside and theywatch the horse races, the local
Nodhams, the wrestlingtournaments.
It's a really good time.
It's a tough time to be in thecity because everybody's in the
countryside so a lot of thingsare closed.
Um, but if you're in thecountryside, I mean there's
people everywhere, there's stuffgoing on all the time.
Um, yeah, it's, it's a fun timeto be in the country.
(38:53):
For sure, I actually do a triparound it where we do a horse
trek and then at the end of thehorse trek is sort of the start
of not on.
So then we see the localfestivals in the countryside,
the wrestling tournaments, andlast year we came, we were
horseback riding and we cameacross the smallest Nodom in
Mongolia and we became thehonored guests.
(39:18):
So they put us at the head table.
They were serving us A air rag,which is the fermented mare's
milk that we drink during thattime of year, um, they were,
yeah, giving us the trays ofmeat like I was talking about,
and yeah, we kind of became the,the guests of honor at it, and
then, uh, so that was quite aspecial experience for the
guests that I was with, um, butyeah, that's, I mean, that's
(39:38):
common here.
That's just like how it goessometimes, um, so not as one big
festival and one big, umimportant time to be here.
And then the second is, uh,saginsar, which is our lunar new
year, so that just passed.
So it's kind of like thechinese new year, it's just our
version of it.
And yeah, the country shutsdown for three days, as that
(39:59):
happens, and the holiday itselfis five days, but yeah, and do
they celebrate Christmas as well?
Not per se.
I mean you just see likeChristmas trees around town, but
it's not the same.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
So there's the kids and Christmas presents under on
December 25th.
Breanna (40:18):
No, it's not really like that.
They do exchange presents onNew Year's Eve or New it's no,
it's not really like that.
They do exchange presents onnew year.
Eat on new year's eve or newyear's day um, they'll give
presents, but yeah.
And then you get gifts onsagansar, on lunar new year, um,
but it's not.
It's not like christmas, wherekids wake up and there's 50
presents under the tree and yeah, it's not like that no more old
(40:38):
school.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
yeah well, we are getting close to our end of our
hour.
I have our rapid fire questions, which you're going to be
surprised, since I didn't sendit to you ahead of time.
Sorry, but, kristen, was thereanything else that you wanted to
go before I do those?
If someone wanted to stay therefor an extended time or
something, how much should theybudget to stay there?
Breanna (41:02):
And I know it could vary, but just curious.
I mean I would add a minimum$2,000 a month if they were to
stay here.
So, that's Is a good budgetFood boarding and that's living
a very comfortable lifestyle.
You can do it for much less.
It just depends on your travelstyle and what you're
comfortable with.
That would be what I mean,based on how I live're
comfortable with.
That would be what I mean basedon how I live right now.
(41:22):
That would be a good budgetuh-huh that's no, that's great,
reasonable.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Yeah, it's like they want to go out to eat and have
drinks every night, I guess yeah, yeah, you could probably buy
on that cool all right.
So what is uh, one of thepopular religion or what is the?
It is buddhism.
And do they recognize it?
Because I heard in Japan no onereally says they're Buddhist,
it's just more like just in fora.
Breanna (41:49):
If you ask them what they believe in, they'll say
Buddhism.
There's still a hint ofshamanism and Tengorism, but
Buddhism is probably what themajority I think it's more than
50% say that they're Buddhist.
What did you have for breakfast?
Speaker 1 (42:00):
Yeah, Buddhism is probably what the majority I
think it's more than 50% saythat they're Buddhist.
Yeah, oh, nice, okay.
And what did you have forbreakfast?
What's a typical breakfast foryou there?
Breanna (42:07):
Oh, for me, just coffee .
I like endless, endless amountsof coffee.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
Very French.
Coffee and a cigarette, maybenot a cigarette.
Do people smoke there Vaping?
Breanna (42:20):
is a very popular thing with the?
Uh younger kids.
Uh, smoking is fairly big butyou can't really smoke inside,
which is nice but I wouldn't sayit's like a culture where
you're like gosh, everybodysmokes.
But yeah, I still see it okay.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
And what about the music?
Is there some unique?
Is there a different nomadmusic versus the city music?
Breanna (42:41):
everybody listens to mongole music um.
The traditional music is throatsinging um, but on the radio
they play throat singing, somongole throat singing is like
their traditional style ofsinging um.
I'm sure people know the band,the who.
They are a rock band that isnow famous around the world and
(43:03):
but not the who from the uk.
Speaker 1 (43:05):
Right, a different who.
The who is uh hu okay, myhusband's a huge who fan.
Breanna (43:12):
Yeah, yeah so the who is they kind of have taken the
traditional throat singing thatwe that you'll find here um, and
then they've turned it intorock music and it's they're
playing like huge concertsaround the world and they're
okay, I'm gonna have to youtubethat see what this singing is.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
Sounds very unique.
I won't ask you to sing usanything.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you.
All right, we always like toask where's the closest place to
serve.
I don't think it's anywhere.
To surf.
Oh boy, you're going to have togo to Asia somewhere.
Breanna (43:47):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (43:51):
And what's the money, what's it called and how does
it work?
Exchange when you get there, dothey get credit cards?
Breanna (43:55):
Yeah, so the currency here is Mongolian Tugrik.
We don't have coins, it's onlypaper cash.
You can pull out cash from theATM or you can exchange.
If you exchange, you need tohave crisp new bills.
They don't accept any old billsor any bills that are torn or
ripped or have even theslightest little bend in the
(44:17):
corner.
Oh really, you have to be veryparticular about the bills you
bring.
Little bend in the corner.
Oh really you have to be veryparticular about the bills you
bring.
Yeah and yeah, you can exchangea lot of different places
around the city, yeah, and thenI always tell people have like
cash is king here.
Mastercard doesn't always work,credit cards don't always work.
It's getting more common andthe systems are getting better.
(44:37):
I say this every year and thenall of a sudden, like things
have started to kind of, even mystreet lady selling fruit now
accept credit cards.
Oh wow, okay, so things arevery rapidly modernizing here.
But, yeah, I always tell peopleto have cash, because you just
never know and you just want tobe prepared, because if you
don't have cash, that'saddictive.
Speaker 1 (44:56):
Okay, got it, and so where can people find you Hear
about?
Like your blog URL, yourInstagram?
Where else are you?
Breanna (45:06):
My Instagram is at Brianna J Wilson B-R-E-A-N-N-A-J
Wilson.
Speaker 1 (45:19):
And my Mongolia travel website is
meanwhileinmongoliacomMeanwhileinmongoliacom, and
we'll put these in the shownotes Mongoliacom.
Meanwhile in mongoliacom, andwe'll put these in the show
notes mongoliacom.
How much is it for someone tosign up with you and want to, um
, uh, do one of your trips?
What are the costs?
Breanna (45:29):
uh, yeah, so the women's retreat is currently the
uh lowest priced trip that Ioffer.
That starts at 2900 us dollarsokay um, most of my trips are
usually around for one week yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:43):
And does that, I'm assuming, doesn't include a
flight right.
Someone have to get.
Breanna (45:49):
It doesn't include flights, but it includes
everything once you're sort ofhere during those trip dates.
So accommodation, meals, guidesme, all activities that I
mentioned in the itinerariesthat I write out, so that's
basically all inclusive onceyou're here.
Speaker 1 (46:04):
Nice, and then do you pick up, like from the airport.
Do they have to get?
Breanna (46:08):
Yeah, I pick up from the airport, I take care of you
from start to finish so that Imake sure you're taken care of,
because it is very confusing,it's not straightforward here.
So, yeah, that's everythingincluded, and then what's a
ballpark fee for a flight comingfrom California.
The flight thing has been aconstant battle.
The lowest price I usually findis $1,500.
(46:30):
It can be up to $2,000 for around-trip flight.
At the moment there are hacksto getting around it, like going
to Tokyo and flying in that way.
Or Korea has a budget airlinecalled jeju air uh, j e j u, I
think.
And so if you can get to seoul,sometimes you can find cheaper
flights if you kind of justpiece it together a little bit.
(46:51):
So maybe you go to seoul for aday or two, hang out, take that
flight, you know, up here andthen back there same sort of
scenario.
But yeah, from the us usuallyabout 1500 to 2000 US dollars.
Speaker 1 (47:02):
And when people go to Mongolia, did they ever is?
There is like oh yeah, a lot ofpeople they go to China and
then they hang out there andthen they come to Mongolia and
then they go to Thailand.
Is there any kind of likenormal tour, like more the
digital nomad would do peoplethat are traveling long term?
Breanna (47:16):
Yeah, I mean, if you have the time, you can always
take the train from China andcome in to Mongolia and slow
travel through.
I wouldn't say there's like apath that everybody takes.
It's still, you know, peopleare still unsure about Mongolia
in general, so it's not likewe're part of a regular route of
three places or four places.
(47:37):
People are still trying tofigure out things here, so
that's also what I'm trying tomake more accessible and give
more information about.
But, yeah, I hope people would.
I mean, it's a great place tocome and work for a week, two
weeks.
I have a digital nomad weekwhere I have exactly that
digital nomads coming in so thatI can show them like, yeah, you
can come work here and meetthese cool people I just
(47:57):
mentioned, do these cool thingsand find comfortable workplaces
for a fairly reasonable price.
Yeah, and then you can go on,yeah, like to Hong Kong or Seoul
, or you can go over toKazakhstan.
A lot of people will then dothat.
They'll then go towards CentralAsia.
Speaker 1 (48:13):
Kazakhstan.
Breanna (48:14):
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan.
That's the more common, I think, thing that people do.
Speaker 1 (48:18):
And I was just thinking what Kristen was asking
about.
Like someone stayed there for amonth.
Do they have Airbnbs or can yourent places just?
Breanna (48:25):
for one month.
Yeah yeah, airbnb is popular.
Bookingcom you can findapartments.
Speaker 1 (48:32):
Okay, and is it pretty safe to travel?
If you're a female, safe totravel.
Breanna (48:39):
Yeah, it's like any city where you should be aware
of like pickpockets.
Don't leave your phone on atable and walk away, you know if
you see really drunk peoplewalk in the other direction.
But as far as like feeling safeas a female, I've never felt
unsafe.
I mean I've never really beencat called or heckled.
I've never, like had anyinstances on the street where
(48:59):
I'm like, oh, that heckled.
I've never, like had anyinstances on the street where
I'm like, oh, that was weird oroh, that made me really
uncomfortable.
Speaker 1 (49:08):
I mean, I've walked around the city at every hour of
the day by myself and, yeah, Ihaven't had any issues, awesome,
oh well, thank you so much,brianna.
This is very eyeopening, noidea.
So what's the dates for yourAugust trip?
Breanna (49:16):
Oh, I think it's August 11th through 17th.
Speaker 1 (49:21):
Just in case, just throwing it out, in case
someone's listening andinterested, and then if they
went to meanwhileinmongoliacomto be able to access that trip,
there's a tour section on thewebsite and they'll find a
women's retreat under thatsection.
Breanna (49:39):
I think it says best experience of Mongolia seven day
trip.
Speaker 1 (49:42):
I'm scrolling just to check it out and you've got one
in May which sounds fun Camels,horses and cons.
What's a con?
Breanna (49:49):
It's our word for king.
Speaker 1 (49:51):
Oh okay, live the Mongolia nomadic families during
the small tour group.
And then June 2nd through 9th,digital nomad week, live and
work in Umbatar.
And then July, that's the NadamFestival and horse trek small
group tour.
One spot left, that looks fun.
July 5th through the 13th itsays a two-day horse trek.
(50:12):
So it's 5th through the 13thand then they go two days on a
horse.
Yes, exactly, I've run horses.
I'm all up in that.
That would be awesome.
And then July 24th through the29th you have a six-day mounted
archery training camp.
I saw a lot of horses inarchery, which looked really
good.
Breanna (50:28):
Yeah, that's a new trip I just launched this year.
So one of my friends here sheis this badass mounted archer.
So they gallop at full speedand are shooting arrows at these
targets and it's the mostamazing thing to watch.
So I've teamed up with her andwe're going to do two weekends
of camp.
Speaker 1 (50:47):
Yeah, it looks like you've got 7th through the 12th
and July 24th through the 29thand August.
So, august 7th through the 12thand then July 24th to 29th,
six-day mountain retreattraining camp train like a
mongol warrior and learn how toride and shoot traditional
mounted archery while gallopingacross the step terrain.
And then the august 11ththrough the 17th, seven-day
(51:11):
adventure trip for women only.
That sounds really amazingriding horses, kayaking, so
soaking up beautiful sceneryTrip.
Perfect for women looking togain more confidence in the
outdoors, which I think, yeah,when you're going to the
Mongolia for the outdoors, youare really going outdoors, right
?
Yeah, yeah, we're doing it.
Breanna (51:33):
But the best way to do it is to just jump right in.
Speaker 1 (51:36):
Oh heck yeah, I am all down for that.
I definitely.
I actually at that time I takeGirl Scouts backpacking.
Breanna (51:45):
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (51:47):
So but I am, yeah, I may have to switch one of those
years.
That looks really fun.
Love to keep in touch and seeabout more of your trips and
thank you so much for sharingabout Mongolia.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you, thank you so much.
Have a great day.
Good night, oh yeah.
Have a great day, yeah.
Breanna (52:07):
All right, bye.
Speaker 1 (52:11):
Thanks for listening.
If you enjoyed the podcast, canyou please take a second and do
a quick follow of the show andrate us in your podcast app, and
if you have a minute, we wouldreally appreciate a review.
Following and rating is thebest way to support us.
If you're on Instagram, let'sconnect.
We're at where next podcast.
Thanks again, thank you.
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